The present invention is generally directed to wagering games, and more particularly to a wagering game wherein players wager upon a predetermined number of cards of one suit being dealt before those of the other suits.
Wagering games which use a deck of cards which contains the suits of diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts are well known in the art. In a conventional single deck of playing cards, there are thirteen cards of each suit, ranging from ace through king. The deck can be used to play a myriad of wagering games.
The present invention is directed to a method of playing a wagering game, and the apparatus for playing the game. The game includes a playing area having four lanes arranged in a side-by-side racing configuration. Each lane is marked with one of the four card suits of diamonds, clubs, spades, or hearts, and has multiple partitions or stations. Players wager which lane will have it""s stations filled first, when a dealer sequentially deals cards from a deck, and places the dealt card upon a station of the lane which matches the suit of the dealt card. The player receives a payoff if he or she placed a wager on the winning lane. The player can also receive a supplemental payoff. The principles of the present invention may be practiced for gambling purposes such as at a casino, or alternatively for recreation using play money. A preferred name for the present invention is BonusRun.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, a method of playing a wagering game, includes:
(a) providing a playing area, the playing area having four side-by-side lanes, one lane labeled for each if the suits of diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts, each of the lanes having a first plurality of card-receiving stations. The playing area also has at least one, and in a preferred embodiment, a second plurality of player wagering stations, each wagering station including (1) a conventional wagering area which allows a player to place a wager upon any of the four lanes, and (2) a supplemental wagering area. The playing area also has at least one, and in a preferred embodiment, a third plurality of supplemental card-receiving stations.
(b) providing a deck of playing cards, the deck having equal numbers of diamond cards, club cards, spade cards, and heart cards. In a preferred embodiment, a conventional deck of 52 cards is used in the present invention, however decks having other numbers of cards could also be utilized, so long as each suit has the same number of cards. Further, it may be appreciated that symbols other than diamonds, clubs, spades, and hearts could be utilized to practice the principles of the present invention.
(c) a dealer shuffling the deck of playing cards at the start of each round of play. This is an important feature of the invention, for if the cards were not shuffled before each round of play, knowledgeable players could count the cards played in a previous round of play, and thereby obtain a wagering advantage. For the same card counting reason, it would not be advisable to use a shoe of multiple decks in the present invention.
(d) the dealer dealing a card (face down in the shown embodiment) to each of the supplemental card-receiving stations. It is noted that step (d) may be performed either before or after step (g) below.
(e) a player placing a conventional wager upon one of the lanes, and the player optionally placing a supplemental wager.
(f) the dealer dealing a card face up from the deck and placing the card on a card-receiving station of the lane which corresponds to the suit of the dealt card. In a preferred embodiment, the first dealt card is placed at one end of the corresponding lanes, with subsequent dealt cards placed in the next available adjacent card-receiving station. In this fashion the appearance of a race is achieved, wherein the cards placed in the winning lane cross a finish or win line first.
(g) repeating step (f) by dealing subsequent cards until all the card-receiving stations of one lane are filled. The lane that is first filled is designated the winning lane.
(h) the player receiving a conventional payoff if the player""s conventional wager was placed on the lane whose card-receiving stations were filled in step (g); and,
(i) the player receiving a supplemental payoff if the suit of any of the cards in the supplemental card-receiving stations match the suit of the lane filled in step (g), and the player placed a supplemental wager. in step (e).
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, indicia representing the playing area of the present invention can be disposed on any of a casino gaming table, a game board such as those which fold in half, a playing cloth, a video game, a playstation, a bar top game, a slot machine, a TV set, a computer monitor, a lottery scratch ticket, and a portable hand held game.
In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, there are five card-receiving stations in each lane.
In accordance with an important feature of the invention, there are seven player wagering stations.
In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, there are five supplemental card-receiving stations.
In accordance with another important feature of the invention, a player is only allowed to place a wager on one lane.
In accordance with another important aspect of the invention, the amount of the conventional payoff is a function of a margin of victory of the winning lane.
In accordance with another important feature of the invention, the amount of the supplemental payoff is a function of the number of cards in the supplemental card-receiving stations which match the suit of the winning lane.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.